[digg=http://digg.com/educational/How_Are_You_Furthering_Your_Writing_Career]Tiffany Colter, the Writing Career Coach, had a great post last week: Do You Own It? It offered a no-nonsense kick in the pants to all of us who play-act at being writers.
I have purchased her Writing Career Coach courses on Creating a Writer’s Life and Building a Platform, but I haven’t finished it. I own that. I want to finish it. The lessons are wonderful, and the feedback is valuable. I have put at least one idea from each lesson into practice, and it has helped me approach my career in a professional fashion.
I am thankful that her post came during a week when I had set goals for the month and had come to some decisions about how I would achieve them. It also came during a week when I had submitted four short stories for consideration to various print and online publications, including a stand-alone excerpt from my current WIP. I feel as if I have really worked my writing career over the past week.
To help me better focus my writing time, I have taken a pseudo-vacation from Pop Culture Curmudgeon. I know that by posting less frequently, I risk losing some readers. But I need to put my paying projects and potentially paying projects first. And I will keep posting during the coming month.
I will be maintaining my regular schedule here, with posts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Wednesday, I will have a list of my indispensable tools. Friday, I will have the usual writing roundup.
What about you. What do you need to do to further your career? Do you need to set new goals? Create benchmarks? Find tools to help you better organize your time? Learn how to say no?
Jen, great post. Thank you for reminding me that I need to set goals. It’s so easy to get side-tracked as a writer. I’m setting a goal to sign up for an online class on selling non-fiction pieces. Do you have any courses you highly recommend?
Kristine,
Thanks. I’m always happy to hear that I’m providing some good info here.
Linda Formichelli has one on query letters that actually starts today. You can find out more here: http://therenegadewriter.com/new-renegade-writer-classes/#linda
Of course, there is Christina Katz’s Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff, which starts August 12: http://homepage.mac.com/katzcreative/comm/classes.htm#Short
There’s another one this winter that sounds really good. It’s called Build the Freelance Writing Business You Want: http://therenegadewriter.com/new-renegade-writer-classes/#gwen
There might be something in your local area, too.
Jennifer
Jen, thanks for this post. I loved it. One thing I’m doing is unplug week. BJ Anderson started it. The third week of the month you unplug your computer. No blogging or anything. Except checking email once a day. I know for some that is impossible, but for me I believe it will work. Nice post!
Jen,
I’m really glad that my blog helped. It helped me too. I needed the kick in the seat just as much as anyone. Even though I do many things, I know I’m capable of more.
Congrats for all you’ve accomplished and I’m so glad you choose to read Writing Career Coach.
Tiff
Wicked good post, Jen. My wife is actually the aspiring writer in our household, so I’ve forwarded this on to her. Thanks!!
I think I need to learn to say no.
No I can’t do this if I want to finish my book. No my book comes first. No I’m not play-writing.
I have to reset my goals, and make them more true to my life.
Great link.
Unplug week scares me to my very core. I did that on my cruise last December, and it was very freeing. But, I don’t think I could do it unless I was traveling or something. I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you.
Thanks, Tiffany. One of these days, you’ll see the rest of my lessons come your way.
Thanks, Rob! It’s so nice to hear from you. I hope your wife finds something useful. I always love to connect with another aspiring writer. I know there are a lot of us around, and it’s great to be able to get to know so many of them through the blog.
Yes! I’m the same way. As you can probably from my goals, I agree to a lot. Is there some sort of 12-step group to help us quit saying “yes”?